Generation facts

Five generations of one family—a child with her mother, grandmother, her great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother.

A generation is used to mean the average amount of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their children. It is also used to mean all the people on one level of a family tree. For example, your brothers, sisters and cousins are in the same generation as you. It can also be used to mean a series of something, like a generation of a car model (2nd generation, etc.).

Images

This photograph depicts four generations of one family: a male infant, his mother, his maternal grandmother, and one of his maternal great-grandmothers.